OldSarge
Posts: 642
Joined: 11/25/2010 From: Albuquerque, NM Status: offline
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quote:
ORIGINAL: RangerJoe quote:
ORIGINAL: OldSarge quote:
ORIGINAL: altipueri Thanks sarge. I was 16 in 1970. My father was Command Secretary of British Army Of the Rhine. In Germany.(= Major General) He said, if the Russians attack on a Wednesday afternoon or a Saturday it’s all over. They were sports days and nobody could get hold of anyone. Also, for the British sector, any attack in winter if there was more than an inch of snow could not be stopped. :) Sounds like you had your own ringside seat to the period. The U.S. Army had similar issues from the late 70s until the early '80s, there was a period of budget shortages that affected everything from spare parts to training. Things began to change around 1982, new zero tolerance rules for substance abuse and disciplinary problems were established and expected to be strictly enforced, along with an infusion of new equipment and adequate fund appropriations. It made all of the difference. It wasn't until much later that I found out about Able Archer cheers Just think if your battle position was 50 metres from East Germany at that time period . . . STRAC was an Army term thrown around quite a bit during that period. For officers and the senior NCOs. it mean 'Strong, Tough, Ready Around the Clock'. For the junior NCOs and other enlisted it was translated, as usually happens with such acronyms, into 'Sh!t, The Russians Are Coming!'.
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You and the rest, you forgot the first rule of the fanatic: When you become obsessed with the enemy, you become the enemy. Jeffrey Sinclair, "Infection", Babylon 5
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